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Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse
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Réseau canadien pour la
prévention des mauvais traitements envers les aîné(e)s
Abuse as Criminal Matters

Many forms of
abuse or neglect affecting older adults are crimes.
This page identifies various sections of the Criminal Code of Canada (C.C.C.)
that may apply to different forms of abuse, and the specific wording of
those sections of criminal law.
~~~
PHYSICAL ABUSE
The following Criminal Code offences may
apply in physical
abuse situations:
 | assault and aggravated assault (section 265 and 268) |
 | unlawfully causing bodily harm (section
269) |
 | murder (section 229) |
 | murder reduced to manslaughter (section
232) |
 | forcible confinement (section 279) |
 | killing by influence on the mind
(section 228) (This may also constitute psychological abuse) |
 | counselling or aiding suicide (section
241) |
 | criminal negligence (section 219) (This
may also constitute neglect.) |

PHYSICAL ABUSE
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Assault (C.C.C. section 265)
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Assault
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265. (1) A person commits an assault when
(a) without the consent of another person, he
applies force intentionally to that other person, directly or indirectly;
(b) he attempts or threatens, by an act or a
gesture, to apply force to another person, if he has, or causes that other
person to believe on reasonable grounds that he has, present ability to
effect his purpose; or
(c) while openly wearing or carrying a weapon or
an imitation thereof, he accosts or impedes another person or begs.
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Application |
(2) This section applies to all forms of assault,
including sexual assault, sexual assault with a weapon, threats to a third
party or causing bodily harm and aggravated sexual assault.
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Assault
with a Weapon or Causing Bodily Harm (C.C.C. section 267)
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Assault
with a weapon or causing bodily harm |
267. Every one who, in committing an assault,
(a) carries, uses or threatens to use a weapon
or an imitation thereof, or
(b) causes bodily harm to the complainant,
is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years or an offence punishable on
summary conviction and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding
eighteen months.
R.S., 1985, c. C-46, s. 267; 1994, c. 44, s. 17. |
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Aggravated Assault (C.C.C. section 268) |
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Aggravated assault |
268. (1) Every one commits an aggravated assault
who wounds, maims, disfigures or endangers the life of the complainant. |
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Unlawfully causing bodily harm |
269. Every one who unlawfully causes bodily harm
to any person is guilty of
(a) an indictable offence and liable to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years; or
(b) an offence punishable on summary conviction
and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding eighteen months.
R.S., 1985, c. C-46, s. 269; 1994, c. 44, s. 18. |
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Murder,
Manslaughter and Infanticide
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Murder |
229. Culpable
homicide is murder
(a) where the
person who causes the death of a human being
(i) means to
cause his death, or
(ii) means to
cause him bodily harm that he knows is likely to cause his death, and is
reckless whether death ensues or not;
(b) where a
person, meaning to cause death to a human being or meaning to cause him
bodily harm that he knows is likely to cause his death, and being reckless
whether death ensues or not, by accident or mistake causes death to another
human being, notwithstanding that he does not mean to cause death or bodily
harm to that human being; or
(c) where a
person, for an unlawful object, does anything that he knows or ought to know
is likely to cause death, and thereby causes death to a human being,
notwithstanding that he desires to effect his object without causing death
or bodily harm to any human being.
R.S., c. C-34,
s. 212. |
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Manslaughter
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Murder
reduced to manslaughter |
232. (1)
Culpable homicide that otherwise would be murder may be reduced to
manslaughter if the person who committed it did so in the heat of passion
caused by sudden provocation. |
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What is provocation |
(2) A wrongful act
or an insult that is of such a nature as to be sufficient to deprive an
ordinary person of the power of self-control is provocation for the purposes
of this section if the accused acted on it on the sudden and before there
was time for his passion to cool. |
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Killing by Influence
on the Mind
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Killing by influence on the mind |
228. No
person commits culpable homicide where he causes the death of a human being
(a) by any
influence on the mind alone, or
(b) by any
disorder or disease resulting from influence on the mind alone,
but this section
does not apply where a person causes the death of a child or sick person by
wilfully frightening him.
R.S., c. C-34,
s. 211. |
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Counselling
Suicide |
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Counselling or aiding suicide |
241. Every
one who
(a) counsels
a person to commit suicide, or
(b) aids or
abets a person to commit suicide,
whether suicide
ensues or not, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding fourteen years.
R.S., 1985, c.
C-46, s. 241; R.S., 1985, c. 27 (1st Supp.), s. 7. |

PSYCHOLOGICAL
OR EMOTIONAL ABUSE
Some forms of
psychological or emotional abuse are crimes. The following Criminal Code offences may
apply in psychological or emotional abuse situations:
 | threats (section 423) |
 | intimidation (section 423) |
 | killing by influence on the mind |
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Threats and
Intimidation
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Intimidation |
423. (1)
Every one is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for
a term of not more than five years or is guilty of an offence punishable on
summary conviction who, wrongfully and without lawful authority, for the
purpose of compelling another person to abstain from doing anything that he
or she has a lawful right to do, or to do anything that he or she has a
lawful right to abstain from doing,
(a) uses
violence or threats of violence to that person or his or her spouse or
common-law partner or children, or injures his or her property;
(b)
intimidates or attempts to intimidate that person or a relative of that
person by threats that, in Canada or elsewhere, violence or other injury
will be done to or punishment inflicted on him or her or a relative of his
or hers, or that the property of any of them will be damaged;
(c)
persistently follows that person;
(d) hides any
tools, clothes or other property owned or used by that person, or deprives
him or her of them or hinders him or her in the use of them;
(e) with one
or more other persons, follows that person, in a disorderly manner, on a
highway;
(f) besets or
watches the place where that person resides, works, carries on business or
happens to be; or
(g) blocks or
obstructs a highway.
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Harassment (C.C.C. section
264(1)) |
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Uttering threats |
264.1 (1) Every one commits an offence who, in
any manner, knowingly utters, conveys or causes any person to receive a
threat
(a) to cause death or bodily harm to any person;
(b) to burn, destroy or damage real or personal
property; or
(c) to kill, poison or injure an animal or bird
that is the property of any person. |
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Killing by influence
on the mind
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Killing by influence on the mind |
228. No
person commits culpable homicide where he causes the death of a human being
(a) by any
influence on the mind alone, or
(b) by any
disorder or disease resulting from influence on the mind alone,
but this section
does not apply where a person causes the death of a child or sick person by
wilfully frightening him.
R.S., c. C-34,
s. 211. |

FINANCIAL ABUSE
Many forms of
financial exploitation or financial abuse are crimes. The following Criminal Code offences may
apply in these situations:
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Theft (C.C.C.
section 322)
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Theft
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322. (1) Every one commits theft who
fraudulently and without colour of right takes, or fraudulently and without
colour of right converts to his use or to the use of another person,
anything, whether animate or inanimate, with intent
(a) to deprive, temporarily or absolutely, the
owner of it, or a person who has a special property or interest in it, of
the thing or of his property or interest in it;
(b) to pledge it or deposit it as security;
(c) to part with it under a condition with
respect to its return that the person who parts with it may be unable to
perform; or
(d) to deal with it in such a manner that it
cannot be restored in the condition in which it was at the time it was taken
or converted. |
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Time when theft completed |
(2) A person commits theft when, with intent to steal
anything, he moves it or causes it to move or to be moved, or begins to
cause it to become movable. |
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Secrecy |
(3) A taking or conversion of anything may be
fraudulent notwithstanding that it is effected without secrecy or attempt at
concealment. |
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Purpose of taking |
(4) For the purposes of this Act, the question whether
anything that is converted is taken for the purpose of conversion, or
whether it is, at the time it is converted, in the lawful possession of the
person who converts it is not material. |
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Theft by
Person Holding Power of Attorney
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Theft by
person holding power of attorney |
331. Every one commits theft who, being
entrusted, whether solely or jointly with another person, with a power of
attorney for the sale, mortgage, pledge or other disposition of real or
personal property, fraudulently sells, mortgages, pledges or otherwise
disposes of the property or any part of it, or fraudulently converts the
proceeds of a sale, mortgage, pledge or other disposition of the property,
or any part of the proceeds, to a purpose other than that for which he was
entrusted by the power of attorney.
R.S., c. C-34, s. 291. |
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Misappropriation of money held under direction |
332. (1) Every one commits theft who, having
received, either solely or jointly with another person, money or valuable
security or a power of attorney for the sale of real or personal property,
with a direction that the money or a part of it, or the proceeds or a part
of the proceeds of the security or the property shall be applied to a
purpose or paid to a person specified in the direction, fraudulently and
contrary to the direction applies to any other purpose or pays to any other
person the money or proceeds or any part of it. |
Criminal Breach of Trust (Conversion by a trustee)
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Criminal
breach of trust |
336. Every one who, being a trustee of anything
for the use or benefit, whether in whole or in part, of another person, or
for a public or charitable purpose, converts, with intent to defraud and in
contravention of his trust, that thing or any part of it to a use that is
not authorized by the trust is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years.
R.S., c. C-34, s. 296. |
Section 2 of C.C.C., defines "trustee as:
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trustee" «fiduciaire» |
"trustee" means a person who is declared by any Act to
be a trustee or is, by the law of a province, a trustee, and, without
restricting the generality of the foregoing, includes a trustee on an
express trust created by deed, will or instrument in writing, or by parol;
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Extortion
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Extortion
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346. (1) Every one commits extortion who,
without reasonable justification or excuse and with intent to obtain
anything, by threats, accusations, menaces or violence induces or attempts
to induce any person, whether or not he is the person threatened, accused or
menaced or to whom violence is shown, to do anything or cause anything to be
done.
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Extortion |
(1.1) Every person who commits extortion is guilty of
an indictable offence and liable
(a) where a firearm is used in the commission of
the offence, to imprisonment for life and to a minimum punishment of
imprisonment for a term of four years; and
(b) in any other case, to imprisonment for life. |
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Saving |
(2) A threat to institute civil proceedings is not a
threat for the purposes of this section.
R.S., 1985, c. C-46, s. 346; R.S., 1985, c. 27 (1st
Supp.), s. 46; 1995, c. 39, s. 150. |
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Forgery and Offences Resembling Forgery
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Forgery
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366. (1) Every one commits forgery who makes a
false document, knowing it to be false, with intent
(a) that it should in any way be used or acted
on as genuine, to the prejudice of any one whether within Canada or not; or
(b) that a person should be induced, by the
belief that it is genuine, to do or to refrain from doing anything, whether
within Canada or not. |
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Making false document |
(2) Making a false document includes
(a) altering a genuine document in any material
part;
(b) making a material addition to a genuine
document or adding to it a false date, attestation, seal or other thing that
is material; or
(c) making a material alteration in a genuine
document by erasure, obliteration, removal or in any other way. |
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When forgery complete |
(3) Forgery is complete as soon as a document is made
with the knowledge and intent referred to in subsection (1), notwithstanding
that the person who makes it does not intend that any particular person
should use or act on it as genuine or be induced, by the belief that it is
genuine, to do or refrain from doing anything. |
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Forgery complete though document incomplete |
(4) Forgery is complete notwithstanding that the false
document is incomplete or does not purport to be a document that is binding
in law, if it is such as to indicate that it was intended to be acted on as
genuine.
R.S., c. C-34, s. 324. |
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Uttering
forged document |
368. (1) Every one who, knowing that a document
is forged,
(a) uses, deals with or acts on it, or
(b) causes or attempts to cause any person to
use, deal with or act on it,
as if the document were genuine,
(c) is guilty of an indictable offence and
liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years; or
(d) is guilty of an offence punishable on
summary conviction. |
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Wherever forged |
(2) For the purposes of proceedings under this section,
the place where a document was forged is not material.
R.S., 1985, c. C-46, s. 368; 1992, c. 1, s. 60(F);
1997, c. 18, s. 25. |

NEGLECT
The following offences included in the
Criminal Code may apply in cases of neglect:
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Duties Tending
to Preservation of Life
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Duty of
persons to provide necessaries |
215. (1)
Every one is under a legal duty
(a) as a
parent, foster parent, guardian or head of a family, to provide necessaries
of life for a child under the age of sixteen years;
(b) to
provide necessaries of life to their spouse or common-law partner; and
(c) to
provide necessaries of life to a person under his charge if that person
(i) is unable, by
reason of detention, age, illness, mental disorder or other cause, to
withdraw himself from that charge, and
(ii) is unable to
provide himself with necessaries of life. |
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Offence |
(2) Every one
commits an offence who, being under a legal duty within the meaning of
subsection (1), fails without lawful excuse, the proof of which lies on him,
to perform that duty, if
(a) with
respect to a duty imposed by paragraph (1)(a) or (b),
(i) the person to
whom the duty is owed is in destitute or necessitous circumstances, or
(ii) the failure
to perform the duty endangers the life of the person to whom the duty is
owed, or causes or is likely to cause the health of that person to be
endangered permanently; or
(b) with
respect to a duty imposed by paragraph (1)(c), the failure to perform
the duty endangers the life of the person to whom the duty is owed or causes
or is likely to cause the health of that person to be injured permanently. |
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Criminal
Negligence (C.C.C. section 219 (1))
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Criminal
negligence |
219. (1)
Every one is criminally negligent who
(a) in doing
anything, or
(b) in
omitting to do anything that it is his duty to do,
shows wanton or
reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other persons. |
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Definition of "duty" |
(2) For the purposes
of this section, "duty" means a duty imposed by law.
R.S., c. C-34,
s. 202. |
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Causing
death by criminal negligence |
220. Every
person who by criminal negligence causes death to another person is guilty
of an indictable offence and liable
(a) where a
firearm is used in the commission of the offence, to imprisonment for life
and to a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of four years; and
(b) in any
other case, to imprisonment for life.
R.S., 1985, c.
C-46, s. 220; 1995, c. 39, s. 141. |
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Causing
bodily harm by criminal negligence |
221. Every
one who by criminal negligence causes bodily harm to another person is
guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not
exceeding ten years.
R.S., c. C-34,
s. 204. |
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Duty of
persons undertaking acts dangerous to life |
216. Every
one who undertakes to administer surgical or medical treatment to another
person or to do any other lawful act that may endanger the life of another
person is, except in cases of necessity, under a legal duty to have and to
use reasonable knowledge, skill and care in so doing. |

SEXUAL ABUSE
These Criminal Code offences may apply in
sexual abuse situations:
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Sexual
Assault (C.C.C. section 271(1))
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Sexual
assault |
271. (1) Every one who commits a sexual assault
is guilty of
(a) an indictable offence and is liable to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years; or
(b) an offence punishable on summary conviction
and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding eighteen months.
(2) [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 19 (3rd Supp.), s. 10]
R.S., 1985, c. C-46, s. 271; R.S., 1985, c. 19 (3rd
Supp.), s. 10; 1994, c. 44, s. 19. |
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Sexual
assault with a weapon, threats to a third party or causing bodily harm
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272. (1) Every person commits an offence who, in
committing a sexual assault,
(a) carries, uses or threatens to use a weapon
or an imitation of a weapon;
(b) threatens to cause bodily harm to a person
other than the complainant;
(c) causes bodily harm to the complainant; or
(d) is a party to the offence with any other
person. |
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Aggravated sexual assault |
273. (1) Every one commits an aggravated sexual
assault who, in committing a sexual assault, wounds, maims, disfigures or
endangers the life of the complainant. |
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Meaning
of "consent" |
273.1 (1) Subject to subsection (2) and
subsection 265(3), "consent" means, for the purposes of sections 271, 272
and 273, the voluntary agreement of the complainant to engage in the sexual
activity in question. |
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Where no consent obtained |
(2) No consent is obtained, for the purposes of
sections 271, 272 and 273, where
(a) the agreement is expressed by the words or
conduct of a person other than the complainant;
(b) the complainant is incapable of consenting
to the activity;
(c) the accused induces the complainant to
engage in the activity by abusing a position of trust, power or authority;
(d) the complainant expresses, by words or
conduct, a lack of agreement to engage in the activity; or
(e) the complainant, having consented to engage
in sexual activity, expresses, by words or conduct, a lack of agreement to
continue to engage in the activity. |
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Subsection (2) not limiting |
(3) Nothing in subsection (2) shall be construed as
limiting the circumstances in which no consent is obtained.
1992, c. 38, s. 1. |

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Canadian Network for the Prevention of
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